Probe for universal detection of circulating tumor cells

1. A probe for detecting circulating tumor cells (CTCs), comprising: a modified SV40 viral genome packaged into a capsid formed from the L1 and L2 capsid proteins of a human, bovine, or other papillomavirus, and including the luciferase (luc) marker gene of SEQ ID NO: 10, wherein the modified SV40 viral genome also comprises an SV40 virus late promoter.

2. The probe of claim 1, wherein the marker gene is inserted into the modified SV40 viral genome downstream of the SV40 virus late promoter.

3. The probe of claim 1, wherein the SV40 virus late promoter is modified by eliminating the endogenous start codon.

4. The probe of claim 1, wherein the SV40 viral genome is modified by inserting four 72 tandem repeat enhancer sequences.

5. The probe of claim 1, wherein the SV40 viral genome is modified by one or more of the following: substituting nucleotide 298 from cytosine (C) to thymine (T), substituting nucleotide 299 from C to T, substituting nucleotide 304 from C to T, and substituting nucleotide 322 from guanine (G) to C, wherein the nucleotide positions of 289, 299, 304, and 322 correspond to 671, 672, 677, and 695, respectively, of SEQ ID NO: 1.

6. A process for assembling a probe that can detect circulating tumor cells (CTCs), the process comprising: co-transfecting papilloma virus L1 and L2 genes with a modified SV40 viral genome construct into mammalian cells, or by in vitro assembly of the modified SV40 viral genome construct into capsids formed from co-transfecting the papilloma virus L1 and L2 genes into mammalian cells; wherein the probe includes the luciferase marker gene of SEQ ID NO: 10; and wherein the modified SV40 viral genome also comprises an SV40 virus late promoter.

7. The process of claim 6, wherein the co-transfecting comprises co-transfecting pSV-GFP and pHPVL1,2 into 293TT cells.

8. The process of claim 6, wherein the mammalian cells are 293TT cells.

9. The process of claim 6, wherein the SV40 virus late promoter is modified by eliminating the endogenous start codon.

10. The process of claim 6, wherein the SV40 viral genome construct is modified by inserting four 72 tandem repeat enhancer sequences.

11. The process of claim 6, wherein the SV40 viral genome construct is modified by one or more of the following: substituting nucleotide 298 from cytosine (C) to thymine (T), substituting nucleotide 299 from C to T, substituting nucleotide 304 from C to T, and substituting nucleotide 322 from guanine (G) to C, wherein the nucleotide positions of 289, 299, 304, and 322 correspond to 671, 672, 677, and 695, respectively, of SEQ ID NO: 1.

12. A method for detecting circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in a patient using a probe, the method comprising: collecting blood from a patient; isolating nucleated cells from the blood; preparing a mixture that includes the isolated nucleated cells from the blood and a probe for detecting CTCs, wherein the probe comprises a modified SV40 viral genome having a SV40 virus late promoter, a modified capsid formed from the L1 and L2 capsid proteins of a papillomavirus, and containing the luciferase (luc) marker gene of SEQ ID NO: 10; and detecting CTCs in the mixture.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the nucleated cells include peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) or CTCs.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the SV40 viral genome is modified by one or more of (i) eliminating the endogenous start codon of SV40, (ii) inserting four 72 tandem repeat enhancer sequences into SV40, and (iii) substituting nucleotide 298 from cytosine (C) to thymine (T) in SV40, (iv) substituting nucleotide 299 from cytosine to thymine in SV40, (v) substituting nucleotide 304 from cytosine to thymine in SV40, and (vi) substituting nucleotide 322 from guanine (G) to C in SV40, wherein the nucleotide positions of 289, 299, 304, and 322 correspond to 671, 672, 677, and 695, respectively, of SEQ ID NO: 1.